Chapter 806 – Top Four

Dead Soul swung his war hammer again when he saw Gentle Snow executing her second attack. This time, though, he no longer took the fight lightly, the speed of his attack increasing considerably. The space around Gentle Snow also trembled much more as it collapsed in on her.

Boom!

However, despite Dead Soul’s stronger attack, Gentle Snow split the collapsing space without fail. Additionally, the exchange this time resulted in Dead Soul and Gentle Snow stumbling back one step each.

How is this possible?! Death Wind, watching from outside the ring, was dumbfounded when he saw Gentle Snow coming out even with Dead Soul.

Death Wind had personally experienced Dead Soul’s Attack Speed, so he knew how frightening it was. Even Unthinking Realm experts should have difficulty keeping up with that kind of Attack Speed, let alone Gentle Snow, who wasn’t even at the Unthinking Realm.

Before Death Wind could snap out of his daze, Gentle Snow swung the Chaos Windblade and executed Fleeting Thunderclap for the third time.

This time, Gentle Snow’s attack was so fast that many of the spectators failed to even see the movement of her arms. All they saw was a dark thunderbolt crossing the space between Gentle Snow and Dead Soul.

A moment later, Dead Soul stumbled three steps backward before he regained his footing. The war hammer he wielded also trembled violently, and his HP bar had decreased by 3%. The outcome of the third exchange was nearly identical to that of the first. Only, the positions of Dead Soul and Gentle Snow were reversed.

…

“Who are you?” Dead Soul asked as he looked at Gentle Snow, who wasn’t even one-third of his height, with furrowed brows.

“Zero Wing’s Vice Guild Leader, Gentle Snow.” Gentle Snow knew Dead Soul wasn’t simply asking for her name. After all, the names of the members of both parties were published before the match began.

“Zero Wing’s Vice Guild Leader?” Dead Soul looked at Gentle Snow in surprise. He had never heard of the Guild named Zero Wing, so it obviously wasn’t one of the human race’s apex powers. This meant that a Vice Guild Leader from a non-apex power had suppressed him. This was a huge surprise to him, and he couldn’t help but laugh heartily. “You are the only person after the Divine Fist who managed to overwhelm me. Your sword technique must be at the Advanced Gold rank, right?”

The main reason Dead Soul lost to Garuda in the previous championship’s semifinals was because of the other party’s Advanced Gold Holy Art. Unlike ordinary Gold-ranked techniques, Advanced Gold-ranked techniques allowed players to transcend their limits. Hence, Garuda was able to surpass Dead Soul’s Attack Speed and power. If it wasn’t for Garuda’s Advanced Gold Holy Art, their fight would have gone a lot differently.

“That’s right,” Gentle Snow frankly admitted. “I am no match for you in combat standards, so I can only rely on Fleeting Thunderclap to defeat you.”

…

Gentle Snow’s response shocked Phoenix Flame, who was spectating outside the ring.

Black Flame must be out of his mind! Why would he give such a precious opportunity to a Vice Guild Leader? Does he think he’ll get a second chance at using the Sixth Goddess Tablet? Phoenix Flame felt deeply confused and jealous as she looked at Gentle Snow.

Although Elise would often loan the Sixth Goddess Tablet to Phoenix Flame, she could afford to be so generous because she owned the tablet. In contrast, Shi Feng only had a day with the tablet. Yet, rather than using this opportunity for himself, he had given it to a subordinate. Phoenix Flame found his behavior utterly incomprehensible.

However, what Phoenix Flame found even more surprising was that Gentle Snow had managed to learn Fleeting Thunderclap, the strongest and most complex technique available in the Sixth Goddess Tablet. It was also the technique that Phoenix Flame had repeatedly tried but failed to learn. So, when Phoenix Flame saw Gentle Snow had learned the technique after only a day, how could she not be jealous?

…

Meanwhile, inside the ring, Dead Soul took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

“Your Advanced Gold Combat Technique is indeed amazing, but executing it must take a huge toll on your Stamina and Concentration, right? My Sky-Splitting Hammer, on the other hand, is a self-developed Gold Implement Manipulation Technique. It costs me considerably less Stamina and Concentration to execute it than other Gold-ranked techniques.” With renewed vigor, Dead Soul said, “Let’s see who can last longer!”

Gentle Snow’s expression darkened a little at Dead Soul’s words. Indeed, while Fleeting Thunderclap was powerful, using it took a huge toll on her. With her Concentration being at the Tier 6 Intermediate standard only, she couldn’t afford to use it many times in quick succession. At most, she could use it about ten times before she depleted her Concentration. To make matters worse, only the technique’s third strike could damage Dead Soul. She would most certainly lose if she fought a protracted battle with Dead Soul.

However, just as Dead Soul was getting ready to resume the fight, he suddenly stopped, and his gaze grew solemn as he turned to look at a figure walking out of the fog.

“Snow might not be able to wear you out by herself, but what if she has help?” Shi Feng asked, smiling as he looked at Dead Soul’s ugly expression.

…

A moment later, the Verdant Rainbow Party was announced the winner of the match, and all the human players in the Crucible couldn’t help but burst into excitement.

This was the first time the human race had two parties entering the top eight. More importantly, both parties had the potential to win the championship. It was especially so for the Verdant Rainbow Party. In addition to Shi Feng, an expert who could defeat the Arbiter of Death, the party also had Gentle Snow, who could face Dead Soul in direct combat. With two key experts in the Verdant Rainbow Party, the party would have a much greater chance at victory when going up against parties with only one key expert.

Verdant Rainbow was also excited by this situation, and she couldn’t help but feel she had made the best decision in her life to recruit Zero Wing’s assistance.

…

Subsequently, the championship progressed as everyone expected. In the championship’s third round, both the Star Maiden Party and the Verdant Rainbow Party defeated their opponents with ease, progressing into the top four and making the human spectators ecstatic.

In the last Continental Championship, not a single party from the human race managed to enter the top 8. This, in turn, led to the human race receiving less than 20% of the admission tickets for the Continental Championship.

Now that two human parties had entered the top 4, the human race would receive 35% of the admission tickets for the next Continental Championship. If one of these parties could win the championship, the human race would occupy 40% of the admission tickets like the Holy Race did last time. This would allow more chosen ones from the human race to compete for the Crucible’s Legacies, expediting the growth of human players.

Amidst the human spectators’ excitement, the semi-finals officially began.

First match: Star Maiden Party vs Ink Crystal Party.

“Go, Star Maiden! All hail the Star Maiden!”

“It seems the Star Maiden Party will be entering the finals this time.”

“The humans lucked out this time. They went from not having anyone in the top 8 to having two parties in the top 4.”

When the Star Maiden Party entered the ring with the Ink Crystal Party, many Holy Race and Crystallian players couldn’t help but grow envious. After all, outside of ranking first in the preliminaries, the Ink Crystal Party had no outstanding battles throughout the championship. Even the opponents it was matched against were relatively weak, with the strongest opponent being only a former top-8 party. Compared to the three other parties that had entered the top 4, the Ink Crystal Party’s performance was inconspicuous.

However, Shi Feng, Garuda, Rin, Dead Soul, and a few other experts thought differently about the match-up. They all wore serious expressions as they watched the Crystallian girl named Ink Crystal enter the ring.

…